Bogura Sadar upazila male vice chairman polls suspended for confusion over electoral symbols

Voting for the Bogura Sadar upazila Vice Chairman (Male) in the third phase of the upazila parishad elections has been postponed due to a mismatch between the symbols allocated to candidates and those printed on the ballot paper.

Bogura District Commissioner Md Saiful Islam confirmed the matter to The Business Standard, although the district's Additional Election Officer and Returning Officer Syed Abu Syed could not be reached over the phone for comments.

Earlier, the issue came to light when candidate Iftarul Islam Mamun raised concerns about the discrepancy. 

Mamun was contesting for the Sadar upazila vice chairman post with an ice-cream symbol.

He said, "I was provided with a picture of an ice-cream bar [ice-cream on a stick] symbol by the Election Commission and I ran my campaign with the allocated symbol. However, as the voting began this morning, I noticed that the symbol printed on the ballot paper does not match what I was allocated earlier."

"The ballot paper shows a flower-like kulfi ice-cream symbol for me. As a result, voters are not able to recognize my symbol," he lamented, adding that he couldn't find anyone in the election office to address the issue.

Mamun further said, "I called the returning officer. He told me to run a campaign on Facebook. I am feeling helpless now. I don't know where to go."

Later, the Sadar upazila vice chairman (male-only) polling was postponed after authorities acknowledged the complaint.

District Senior Election Officer Mahmud Hasan said, "Voting for the male vice chairman of Sadar upazila has been postponed due to the mismatch of symbols on the ballot paper. However, a written confirmation letter from the Election Commission is yet to be received in this regard."